Czech cuisine includes a variety of staples, dishes, beverages, and snacks which are typical of the broader Central European region. Many dishes are heavily influenced by historical shifts in the availability of various ingredients, particularly during the communist era of Czechoslovakia. Due to Czechia's central location in Europe, recipes were exchanged by ethnic minorities, new settlers, in border towns, leading to a cuisine with amorphous borders and regional dishes spreading beyond Czech lands. Recipes also served as cultural capital, playing a role in the building of communities and of relationships between these communities.
The body of Czech meals typically consists of at least two courses; the first course traditionally being soup, and the second course being the main dish. Third courses often consisted of a sweet dessert or compote (') on more festive occasions.
In Czech cuisine, thick soups are accompanied by stewed vegetables and meats in gravies and cream sauces. Czech cuisine has a reputation for having sweeter main courses than dishes in surrounding countries. Meals are often accompanied by alcoholic drinks such as beer or wine.
The 19th-century Czech language cookbook ' by KarolÃÂna Vávrová shows influences of French cuisine in the order of multi-course meals common throughout the Habsburg monarchy, beginning with soup, followed by fish entrees, meat and sweets. Vávrová deviates from this standard order for the sweets of type. These flour-based sweets, including baked puddings, strudels, doughnuts and souffles could be served either before or after the roast meats, but stewed fruits, creamy desserts, cakes, ice cream, and cookies were to always be served after the roast and for multiple dessert courses would follow this stated order.
After gaining independence from Austria-Hungary, early Czechoslovakia featured as a period of cultural exchange between Czechia and Slovakia. Dishes from Slovakia such as haluà ¡ky and bryndza increased their spread in Czechia. The latter part of Czechoslovakia's culinary history was marked by austerity measures put in place during the communist era. The focus of Czech cuisine shifted towards heavy dishes featuring few but reliable and filling ingredients. However, the development of Czech cuisine was not stagnant, as proximity to other countries in the Eastern Bloc also facilitated the movement of cuisine and culinary traditions across the region.
After the fall of the communist regime and separation of Czechia from Slovakia, new products and ingredients entered the Czech market, though many communist-era products (e.g. Kofola, Malinovka) retained popularity. Czech culinary identity was also called back into question during the modern era, as many sought to reconnect with pre-socialist culinary roots despite the loss of many culinary traditions through austerity.
Although Czech cuisine has a reputation for the heavy presence of meats and starches, the Czech diet has slowly shifted towards incorporating more fruits, vegetables, and dairy products in the daily diet. The proportion of the diet consisting of wheat products and potatoes has decreased, while meat consumption has decreased slightly and shifted away from red meats towards leaner meats such as poultry.
Foraging and hunting play a role, particularly in the diet of rural communities. Mushrooms are often used in Czech cuisine and are often foraged in the autumn. Boletes are among the most commonly picked mushrooms. Berries are also foraged, including blueberries, cranberries, and raspberries/blackberries.
Soup (', colloquially ') plays an important role in Czech cuisine. Soups commonly found in Czech restaurants feature beef, chicken or vegetable broth with noodlesoptionally served with liver or nutmeg dumplings. Garlic soup (') with croutons is also servedoptionally with minced sausage, raw egg, or cheese. Cabbage soup (') made from sauerkraut is also commonsometimes served with minced sausage. ' is a Wallachian variety and contains sour cream, bacon, potatoes, eggs and sausage.
Pea ('), bean and lentil soups are commonly cooked at home. Goulash soup (') and ' are made from beef or pork tripe cut into small pieces and cooked with other ingredients. The meat in these soups can be substituted with oyster mushrooms. Potato soup (') is made from potato, onion, carrot, root parsley and celeriac, spiced with caraway seeds, garlic and marjoram. Fish soup (') made with carp is a traditional Christmas dish. Other common Czech soups include tomato soup, vegetable soup, onion soup ('), bread soup, and champignon or other mushroom soup.
' is a traditional South Bohemian soup containing water, cream, spices, mushrooms, egg (often a quail's egg), dill and potatoes. It is distinct in its thickness, white colour and dill-forward flavour. The main ingredient is mushrooms, which feature as the main flavour in the dish.
' is a regional specialty soup made from rye sourdough, mushrooms, caraway and fried onion.
Bread dumplings (') (steamed and sliced like bread) are one of the mainstays of Czech cuisine and are typically served with meals. They can be either wheat or potato-based and are sometimes made from a combination of wheat flour and diced up stale bread or rolls. Puffed rice can be found in store-bought mixes. When served as leftovers, sliced dumplings are sometimes pan-fried with eggs.
Potatoes feature a prominent role as various side dishes accompanying meats and vegetables. Potatoes are served boiled with salt, often with caraway seed and butter. Peeled and boiled potatoes are mixed into mashed potatoes.Smaller Czech dumplings are usually potato-based. Czech potato dumplings are often filled with ' (smoked meat) and served with spinach or sauerkraut. Fried onion and braised cabbage can accompany these dumplings.
Buckwheat, pearl barley and millet grains are rarely served in restaurants. These are more commonly cooked at home as a healthier alternative to potatoes and wheat-based dumplings.
Bread (' or ') typically consists of sourdough baked from rye and wheat, and flavoured with salt, caraway seeds, onion, garlic, seeds, or pork crackling. It is eaten as an accompaniment to soups and dishes. This bread is used to make Czech croutons and for 'slices of bread fried in a pan on both sides and rubbed with garlic.
Rolls ('), buns ('), and braided buns (') are the most common forms of bread eaten for breakfast; these are often topped with poppy seeds and salt or other seeds. A bun or a roll baked from bread dough is called a '. A sweet roll or ' is a crescent-shaped roll made from sweetened dough containing milk. It is smeared with egg and sprinkled with poppy seeds before baking, giving it a golden-brown colour.
Pork is the most commonly consumed meat, making up over half of all meat consumption in the country. Many parts of the pig are consumed to reduce wastage. Pork cracklings ('), ham (') and bacon (') are commonly eaten. Some dishes are cooked following a pig slaughter (zabijaÃÂka) such as pork blood soup (prdelaÃÂka).
A popular way to consume meat is in the form of various types of sausages. ' is a sausage containing the minced meat and offal of pork cut. Meat from the neck, sides, lungs, spleen, and liver are cooked with white pastry, broth, salt, spices, garlic and sometimes onions. ', also known as kielbasa, is a smoked sausage-like product made from minced meat. It is spicy and durable. ' is a pork sausage-like product containing pork blood and pearl barley or pastry pieces. ' is a meat or poultry product consisting of little pieces of meat in jelly/aspic from connective tissue boiled into mush, served with onion, vinegar and bread. ' is a simple dish made from rather fatty pork meat (head or knuckle). These pieces of lower quality meat are boiled in salted water.
Various poultry is also consumed, including goose, duck, turkey, chicken, pheasant, partridge, guinea fowl, and pigeon. Roast duck (') is served with bread or potato dumplings and braised red cabbage. Roast turkey can be larded with or wrapped with bacon and roasted, though this preparation is not very common.
Fish, mostly trout and carp, is commonly eaten at Christmas (Christmas carp). Crayfish used to be commonly consumed but are now protected due to declining populations.
Rabbit, mutton, lamb, and horse is commonly bred in the countryside for consumption. Wild game such as hare, boar, and deer are not as common.
Some other specialized meat dishes include:
Czech drinking culture has created a suite of snacks often served in pub settings:
In most cases, sweet food is not consumed as dessert, but rather as a separate occasion such as for afternoon coffee. Sweets filled with fruit, poppy seed and quark are prevalent and come in diverse forms including cakes, ' (pies), tarts, fritters, and dumplings ('). The tradition of making pies has been preserved in American Czech communities who have settled in the Midwestern United States and Texas. They are laborious to make and usually prepared for special celebrations, births, funerals and they also have a role in Czech wedding traditions where they are distributed to friends and family in place of wedding invitations. The most common fillings are poppy seed, apricots (') and prunes.
Dough prepared for dumplings may include potatoes, and while the combination of fruits, jams and cheeses varies among households, plums ('), apricots or strawberries (') are common. The finished dumplings are boiled and often garnished with butter, poppy seeds or grated cheese, and a sweetener (traditionally dried and powdered pears, but sugar is used in modern adaptations). Also filled with fruit or jam (and sometimes garnished with poppy seeds) are the Czech crepes called '. Traditional Czech sponge cake ('), served most often for breakfast, is made with cream, eggs and sugar and seasonal fruits, especially whole cherries.
Some examples of sweets include:
The Czech Republic has the highest per-capita consumption of beer in the world. The most common style, which originated in the country, is the Pilsner. Aside from beer, Czechia also produces wine, mostly in Moravia.
Czech Slivovitz and other pálenka (fruit brandies) are also produced in the country. Tuzemák, traditionally marketed as "Czech rum", is made from potatoes or sugar beets.
Various herbal liquors are also produced in Czechia. Becherovka, a herbal bitters was invented in Karlovy Vary, Czechia, and can be consumed as a mixed drink with tonic water, known under the portmanteau of ' ("concrete"). Another popular mixed drink is Fernet Stock mixed with tonic, called "" or "" (translating to "Bavarian beer").
Kofola is a non-alcoholic Czech soft drink somewhat similar in look and taste to Coca-Cola, but not as sweet. It was invented during the communist era as a substitute to cola drinks which could not be imported during the era.
Malinovka is a bright reddish pink raspberry soft drink that is also popular in the country.